Summing up the North American Leaders' Summit

Last week, Prime Minister Harper participated in the North American Leaders' Summit in New Orleans.

This annual summit provides three neighbouring countries: Canada, the United States and Mexico, an opportunity to discuss how they can continue to work together on issues of mutual importance. This year's summit was particularly productive, as Prime Minister Harper reaffirmed Canada's focus on several key areas.

One of the key areas upon which the three countries agreed to a renewed focus was increasing the competitiveness of our businesses and economies. We will accomplish this by working to make our regulations more compatible, which will support integrated supply chains and reduce the cost of goods traded within North America. The auto industry is an example of this, as we are seeking to implement compatible fuel efficiency regimes and high safety standards to protect human health and the environment, as well as reducing the costs of producing cars and trucks for the North American market. We are also strengthening efforts to protect our inventors, authors, performers, and other innovators by advancing our Intellectual Property Action Strategy.

Border security was also an issue of importance and focus for all three countries. The leaders agreed that to make our borders smarter and more secure, we are coordinating our long-term infrastructure plans and are taking steps to enhance and reduce bottlenecks and congestion at major border crossings. The three countries are working together to co-ordinate the efforts of federal agencies to enhance capacity at major border crossing points, such as Detroit-Windsor and San Diego-Tijuana. We are deepening co-operation on the development and application of technology to make our border both smarter and more secure, as well as strengthening trusted traveler and shipper customs procedures. Furthermore, we are looking at new customs procedures, such as a more uniform filing procedure with the aim of reducing transactional costs, while enhancing the security of our borders.

We renewed our efforts and focus on strengthening energy security and protecting the environment. In order to do this, we are attempting to develop a framework for harmonization of energy efficiency standards and sharing technical information to improve the North American energy market. Our countries intend to work together to: create an outlook for biofuels for the region, enhance our electricity networks, and make more efficient use of our energy by increasing fuel efficiency of our vehicles. There was also a commitment towards reducing the barriers to expanding clean energy technologies.

All three countries agreed on a renewed focus to improve our citizens' access to safe food, as well as health and consumer products in North America. We are addressing this issue by working to strengthen our respective regulatory and inspection systems to protect consumers, while maintaining the efficient flow of food and products among the three countries. We are also working to make our food and product safety standards more compatible and to improve continental recall capacities, while working with the private sector to ensure our efforts are complementary.

Finally, a renewed focus to improve our response to emergencies was also discussed during the summit. We are updating our bilateral agreements to enable our local, state, provincial, and federal authorities to help each other quickly and efficiently during times of crisis and great need, including responding to threats posed by cyber or chemical-biological attacks. In this respect, we've made marked progress in discussions for new bilateral emergency management agreements to help manage the movement of goods and people across the border during and after the emergency.

During the summit, our countries also reaffirmed our shared commitment to continue efforts to fight transnational threats that pose challenges to our countries and to the well-being of all citizens, such as: organized crime; trafficking of arms, people, and drugs; smuggling; terrorism; money laundering; counterfeiting; and border violence.

The North American Leaders' Summit addressed many of the most significant issues that Canada, the United States and Mexico are all facing today. We recognize that working together on these issues is key to overcoming them. Our government looks forward to working with these countries and our citizens to develop the most comprehensive and effective approaches in the coming months.

Conservative government provides long-term gas tax

funding

We all know that infrastructure is essential to the development and long-term sustainability of our communities. Our government recognizes this need and is providing the necessary support needed by municipalities all across Canada to improve infrastructure. One of the ways we're providing this support is through the Gas Tax Fund.

The Gas Tax Fund helps to build communities by providing predictable funding in support of municipal infrastructure that enhances the environment and quality of life. Furthermore, it benefits communities by providing funding to increase the capacity of communities to undertake longterm planning. Eligible investment categories include: public transit, drinking water, wastewater infrastructure, green energy, as well as solid waste management.

The money from the Gas Tax Fund flows through the provinces and territories to respect jurisdiction and to allow for flexibility in addressing local conditions. This process also recognizes that the goals of cities and communities is a multi-partner effort and that the challenges facing municipalities cannot be resolved by one level of government, but rather can be best confronted by working together.

All provinces and territories will know how much they can expect to receive over the first five years for their municipalities and can plan to allocate these funds accordingly. The amount individual municipalities will receive is determined by the agreements reached with each province and territory.

Municipalities may pool and borrow against this funding, providing significant additional financial flexibility. Communities report on their use of the funds' activities on an annual basis, to ensure accountability of the Fund.

In Budget 2007, our government committed to extending the Federal Gas Tax Fund an additional four years until 2013-2014, delivering $8 billion in new predictable funding for sustainable infrastructure for Canadian cities and communities.

Following Budget 2007, Canadian communities continued to ask for stable, longterm funding from the federal government. The government responded to this request in Budget 2008. This latest budget announced that the Gas Tax Fund will be extended at $2 billion per year beyond 2013-2014 and will become a permanent measure. It will allow all municipalities, both large and small, to better plan and finance their infrastructure needs.

The Gas Tax Fund has benefited municipalities right here in Dufferin - Caledon. The 2008-2009 Gas Tax Revenue Allocations for municipalities located within Dufferin-Caledon are as follows:
• Town of Caledon - $821, 995.10
• County of Dufferin - $828, 786.16
• Town of Orangeville - $410, 193.34
• Town of Shelburne - $66, 968.35
• Town of Mono - $112, 458.74
• Amaranth - $61, 249.56
• East Garafraxa - $35, 969.90

• Melancthon - $45, 425.40
• Mulmur - $50, 348.11
• East Luther Grand Valley - $46, 172.75

Our government committed to getting things done for Canadians and this included supporting infrastructure in communities all across Canada. The Gas Tax Fund is one way were doing this to ensure that municipalities, both large and small, can provide the much needed infrastructure to meeting growing demands and pressures.